Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Drugs
Avonex ® Unknowns (interferon beta-1a)
Carcinogenesis
No carcinogenicity (ability to cause cancer) data for Avonex ® are available in animals or humans.
Avonex ® was not found to be mutagenic when tested in the Ames Bacterial test, which is designed to assess whether agents interact directly with, and cause damage to, cellular DNA.
However, in Acta Neurochir (Wien) 2002 Apr;144(4):365-8 [PubMed link]:
"Growth dynamics of meningiomas in patients with multiple sclerosis treated with interferon: report of two cases."
Batay F, Al-Mefty O. Department of Neurosurgery, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA.
CONCLUSIONS: We reported the association of multiple sclerosis and intracranial meningioma and observed the progression of the meningiomas during interferon treatment. Although, we cannot exclude the coincidence between the two diseases we discussed suspicious relationship between the interferon treatment and the tumour progression.
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